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Tag Archives: Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

Walt Disney is a multi-billion dollar mega-corporation, and according to Wikipedia “It is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue.” Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), on the other hand, is a tiny multi-thousand dollar non-profit who took on Walt Disney… and won.

“Parent alert: the Walt Disney Company is now offering refunds for all those “Baby Einstein” videos that did not make children into geniuses. They may have been a great electronic baby sitter, but the unusual refunds appear to be a tacit admission that they did not increase infant intellect. “We see it as an acknowledgment by the leading baby video company that baby videos are not educational, and we hope other baby media companies will follow suit by offering refunds,” said Susan Linn, director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which has been pushing the issue for years.

I should have posted this earlier, but here is some of the excellent feedback that CCFC received after the 2012 Screen-Free Week:

“It was WONDERFUL! We are vowing screen-free afternoons for as long as we can do it . . . fewer meltdowns and a happier family!!”

“It was refreshing. I got more sleep ( . . . and realized I am too much of a slave to staying on top of FB and Twitter) . . . . we dusted off “Clue” and “Trouble” instead of watching a movie during family time . . . the boys chatted with us (and each other) a bit more and spontaneously practiced the piano (perhaps a first . . . ). I think our younger son “detoxed” because he had fewer emotional outbursts. We did notice how “screens” are so woven into our everyday lives, and we needed to use the computer and iPad for work and research—but even this recognition was useful.”

“I’m planning on doing this at least every season! I finished so many neglected projects!”
“What a great screen-free week! I enjoyed distraction-free conversation with my family, more time outdoors, finding fun things to do in my community, and caught up on reading my Alaska Magazine. I will be seriously cutting my screen time from now on. I challenged my kindergarten class to do the same with their families and heard about the great things they are doing instead. Great week!”

“I can honestly say it was one of the most connecting weeks I’ve ever spent with my son (almost 4) since he was born. We did SO much fun stuff together. Overall, I just felt so much more in the moment than I normally find myself. And I know Lucas actually enjoyed it . . . when I told him yesterday we had come to the end of our week, he asked me if we could keep doing it. Going to try to take some of the changes we made and apply them long-term on a daily basis.”

– Read Boston has asked 4,000 students in 12 partner schools to take the screen-free pledge! Children who return their tracking logs after break will receive a prize pack with items that promote fun (and learning) without screens.

– Screen-Free Kansas City and the Early Years Institute in Long Island have both partnered with local businesses to offer discounted and free fun activities every day of Screen-Free Week!

– Unplug and Play in Bozeman, Montana has organized daily events including free admission to the Museum of the Rockies, a Bike Rodeo, and Family Science Night at the Children’s Museum.

– Portland (Oregon) Parks and Recreation and Kaiser Permanente are offering activities including a tea party for young children, Family Game Night, and Messy Art!

Plus, here are some of the excellent blog posts on accepting the Screen-Free week challenge:

Last year, lawyers threatened a class-action lawsuit for unfair and deceptive practices unless Disney agreed to refund the full purchase price to all who bought the videos since 2004. “The Walt Disney Company’s entire Baby Einstein marketing regime is based on express and implied claims that their videos are educational and beneficial for early childhood development,” a letter from the lawyers said, calling those claims “false because research shows that television viewing is potentially harmful for very young children.”

Perhaps “Baby Einstein” should be renamed “Baby Bozo” !

But it was the comments that were the most fun, here are a few that I especially liked: